The present invention is related to the mining and/or processing of soft-ore deposits generally and to the mining and/or processing of bitumen-containing materials, such as oil sands, specifically.
Oil is a nonrenewable natural resource having great importance to the industrialized world. Over the last century, the consumption of oil has increased dramatically and has become a strategic commodity, leading to the development of alternative sources of crude oil such as oil sands and oil shales. As used herein, oil sands are a granular or particulate material, such as an interlocked skeleton of sand, with pore spaces occupied by bitumen (an amorphous solid hydrocarbon material totally soluble in carbon disulfide), and oil shale is a rock containing kerogen (a carbonaceous material that which gives rise to crude oil on distillation). The vast majority of the world""s oil sands deposits are found in Canada and Venezuela. Collectively, oil sands deposits contain an estimated 10 trillion barrels of in-place oil. Oil shales are found worldwide with large deposits in the U.S. Collectively, oil shale deposits contain an estimated 30 trillion barrels or more of in-place oil. It is to be understood that a reference to oil sands is intended to include oil shales and vice versa.
Bitumen is typically an asphalt-like substance having an API gravity commonly ranging from about 5xc2x0 to about 10xc2x0 and is contained within the pore space of the oil sands. Bitumen cannot be recovered by traditional oil well technology because it will not flow at ambient reservoir temperatures. To overcome this limitation, near surface oil sand deposits are excavated by surface mining methods, while bitumen in deeper deposits is recovered by in situ techniques, which rely on steam or diluents to mobilize the bitumen so that it can be pumped out by conventional oil recovery methods. The bitumen is recovered from the surface excavated oil sands by known separation methods, and the bitumen, whether derived from surface mining or in situ processes, sent to upgrading facilities where it is converted into crude oil and other petroleum products. Underground mining techniques have been largely unsuccessful in mining deeper oil sands due to high mining costs and unstable overburden conditions.
Existing methods for recovering oil from oil sands have numerous drawbacks. Surface mining techniques are typically only economical for shallow oil sands deposits. It is common for oil sands deposits to dip and a significant part of the ore body may be located at depths that are too deep to recover by surface mining methods. As a result, most of the oil sands deposits are unprofitable to mine. Surface mining requires large areas to be stripped of overburden which then must be moved to other areas for storage. The tailings from the bitumen separation process typically require large tailings ponds complexes in which the tailings are treated before the mined land can be reclaimed. The costs of stripping overburden, building and maintaining tailings ponds and eventual land reclamation costs can be high, particularly for deeper oil sands deposits. Because of the large scale of these operations, the short and long term environmental impact and associated costs of surface mining can be substantial. In situ techniques are disadvantaged in that a relatively large amount of energy is consumed per unit energy recovered in the bitumen.
A significant portion of oil sands deposits lie too deep for economical recovery by surface mining and are too shallow for effective in-situ recovery. Other oil sands deposits, though located at shallow depths, are located under surface features that preclude the use of surface mining. For example, oil sands deposits can be located under lakes, swamps, protected animal habitats and surface mine facilities such as tailings ponds. Estimates for economical grade bitumen in these in-between and inaccessible areas range from 30 to 100 billion barrels.
These and other needs are addressed by one or more of the various inventions discussed herein. Certain of the inventions relate to excavating materials, particularly soft-ore or sedimentary materials, by underground mining techniques. The material excavated by these methods can be any valuable material, particularly in-situ or in-place hydrocarbon-containing materials, such as found in oil sands, oil shales, conventional oil reservoirs, coal deposits and the like, as well as other valuable minerals such as bauxite, potash, trona and the like.
In a first embodiment, the present invention provides an underground mining method in which the material is excavated, continuously, semi-continuously, or episodically, by an underground mining method such as a continuous mining machine, drill-and-blast, longwall mining, hydraulic mining, mechanical excavation whether by backhoes, hydraulic hammers and the like, or by tunnel boring machines (xe2x80x9cTBMsxe2x80x9d) or any other appropriate underground mining practice. A movable shield may be used to provide ground support over the mining apparatus and personnel during excavating. In one configuration, a substantially smaller tunnel liner is formed within the excavation shield and left in place behind the moveable excavation shield as it advances. A backfill material is placed in the excavated volume behind the excavation machine and around the access tunnel liner. Preferably, the backfill at least substantially fills the unsupported volume and itself is supported by the tunnel liner and, in part, by the excavation shield and/or a bulkhead. Typically, the backfill (i.e., the solid particulates and associated interstitial or interparticle spaces) fills at least about 65%, more typically at least about 75% and even more typically from about 85 to about 100% by volume of the space defined by the access tunnel liner, the mining machine bulkhead, the bulkhead (or backfill retaining member) at the excavation entry, and the surrounding excavation. The excavation shield, bulkhead, backfill material and/or tunnel liner all act to support the unexcavated ground behind the excavation face. This combination provides ground support for the mining operation and a small trailing tunnel or passage for ingress and egress from the working face. The backfill material can be tailings from material processing operations, previously mined material, currently mined material, or any other material having acceptable density and strength characteristics.
The backfill operation can be accomplished by numerous techniques. For example, a prefabricated liner having a smaller outer boundary than the surface of the excavation can be set in place anywhere behind a rear section of the movable shield, and, before, during, or after advancement of the shield, the backfill material is injected or otherwise placed in the gap or space between the liner, the machine bulkhead, previously backfilled material, and the surrounding excavated opening. The trailing tunnel is defined by and extends through the liner.
In another configuration, the liner is formed beneath the shield such as using a suitable form, and the lining material placed in or on the form and allowed to set or become self-supporting while the overlying shield is in position. The liner can be formed from any suitable, preferably consolidated, material, such as concrete, grout, asphalt, or a combination thereof. The lining material could include previously excavated material, whether or not processed for bitumen recovery. When the liner is formed, the backfill material can be placed in the gap by suitable techniques. Before injection into the open space above the liner, the excavated backfill material could be combined with a suitable binder, such as flyash, gypsum, sulphur, slag, and the like, which will consolidate or strengthen the backfill material after injection into the open space.
In another configuration, the access tunnel is formed without a liner by combining the backfill material with a binder, such as those described above, placing the backfill material in place above a tail shield and/or form, permitting the backfill material to consolidate and become self-supporting while the tail shield and/or form is in position, and thereafter moving the tail shield, removing the form. Alternatively, the form could be left in position to further support the consolidated backfill.
The trailing tunnel in the backfilled portion of the excavation is preferably substantially smaller in cross-sectional area than the same portion of the excavation before backfilling. Preferably, the cross-section area of the trailing tunnel (in a plane normal to the direction or bearing or longitudinal axis of the tunnel) is no more than about 30%, more preferably no more than about 20%, even more preferably no more than about 10% and most preferably ranges from about 5 to about 10% of the cross-section area (in the same plane) of the excavated portion of the mined volume.
The backfilling of the excavation to define a trailing access tunnel can have numerous advantages. For example, the trailing access tunnel can have a cross-sectional area normal to the long axis of the trailing tunnel that is small enough to reduce significantly the likelihood of caving of the excavation during excavation, thereby providing enhanced safety for personnel, or of surface subsidence after the excavation is completed. This is particularly advantageous in weak overburden conditions, which are typically encountered in oil sand excavation. Backfilling can be significantly less expensive and more effective than conventional ground support techniques. Backfilling can provide a convenient way of disposing of waste materials, such as potentially toxic tailings (e.g., clean sands with a high concentration of clay and shale, etc.) or country rock (i.e., excavated material containing unprofitable levels of bitumen or devoid of bitumen), that are generated during excavation and/or material processing. Large surface facilities are not required for tailings or overburden storage. Reclamation costs, as well as short and long term environmental impacts, can thus be greatly reduced. The per-tonne costs of mining using any of the methods disclosed herein can be the same as, or even less, than the per-tonne mining cost of surface mining techniques on shallow deposits. Due to the high level of long-term ground stability associated with backfilling, the mining techniques disclosed herein can provide economical access to valuable materials in formerly unaccessible areas, such as under industrial facilities or protected or otherwise reserved areas, lakes, swamps, muskeg., etc. The methods disclosed herein can not only recover bitumen in oil sands deposits previously not economically recoverable by surface mining or in situ techniques but also can recover bitumen in oil sands deposits previously recoverable only by in situ techniques. The methods are often preferable to in situ techniques (such as thermal in-situ or chemical in-situ recovery processes) due to substantially less energy expenditure per unit of recovered bitumen. The methods can recover a substantially higher portion of the economically viable oil sands resource (generally regarded as those oil sands containing at least 5% to 6% by mass of bitumen) even in the presence of complex and variable mud and shale layers within the payzone.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a number of possible mine plans are provided that are particularly applicable to the variety and diversity of oil sands deposits. In one configuration, a series of xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped or concentric circular drives or other pattern of drives (in plan view) are formed through the material to be excavated. These are typical patterns that may be used when mining from a single high wall face, as would be the case when operating at the boundary of an open-pit or surface mine. The xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped excavations typically overlap one another on the turns. The concentric circular drives, for example, do not overlap. However, this type of pattern will leave some deposits in the center of the pattern that cannot be mined. The xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped, concentric circular drives and other pattern of drives can be used in various combinations to optimize ore recovery in the particular deposit being mined. The various mining drives can be started from either end, and can be carried out in any order either spatially or temporally as dictated by the layout of the ore body and the time it takes for backfill to become consolidated. If backfill strength is insufficient, then a pillar of unmined ore may be left in place between adjacent drives. If the backfill is fully consolidated then adjacent drives may be made as close as possible or even overlap to some extent. In another configuration, where the area to be mined is under a surface obstruction such as a hill, a muskeg swamp, a tailings pond or a large mining facility the mining drives can be a series of straight runs where the mining machine enters and exits on either side of the obstruction, thereby avoiding underground turns. If the mining machine is smaller in height than the depth of the ore body, then the above mining patterns can be repeated on various levels.
The same or other mining patterns may be applied to deeper deposits where access would be established by excavating access tunnels or shafts and creating a large underground cavern for initiating and ending mining drives. The mining machines could be assembled and serviced in these caverns. Alternately, access tunnels or shafts and large underground caverns can be installed on both sides of a large deposit so that the back and forth mining pattern discussed above for mining under a surface obstructions can be applied to deeper deposits.
The foregoing summary is neither complete nor exhaustive. As will be appreciated, the above mining patterns may be varied to suit the local conditions and can be combined or used in other configurations or embodiments that may be different from those set forth above. These mine layouts can be used with any mining method including a continuous mining machine, drill-and-blast techniques, a TBM and the like.
In another embodiment, the excavated material is fully or partially processed in the underground excavation to recover the valuable components of the material. The material can be excavated using any mining process, including those described above. In one configuration, the excavated material is further comminuted in the excavation, such as by a crusher and/or grinder, formed into a slurry, and hydrotransported out of the excavation for further processing. The waste material, or tailings, can be formed into a second slurry at an external location and hydrotransported back into the excavation for use in backfilling. Alternatively, the backfill slurry can be formed from a high proportion of mature fine tailings (xe2x80x9cMFTsxe2x80x9d) from previous surface mining operations and thereby provide for environmentally safe disposal of these wastes. The tailings from the excavated oil sands are processed to remove sand (which is a relatively valuable commodity and/or may be disposed of readily) and the sands replaced in the second slurry formed from MFTs and other less valuable tailings components, such as from both the present and previous mining operations. Surge tanks can be used to handle fluctuations in the slurry volume.
In yet another embodiment, a tunnel boring machine is provided that is particularly suited for use in unstable overburden conditions. As used herein, a xe2x80x9ctunnel boring machinexe2x80x9d or TBM refers to an excavation machine including one or more movable shields for ground support. Typically, the TBM will be a rotary excavator including a shield, an excavating or cutting wheel and some wheel-driving apparatus. In one configuration, the hood of the forward portion of the movable shield(s) controls overburden and protects the excavation area, the body of the shield(s) houses the working mechanisms and one or more tail shields furnish ground support during the tunnel lining installation. In the typical TBM design, the cutting wheel is designed to perform three main functions: excavating, spoil removal and face support. The TBM can have one or more mining devices at its forward end. Such mining devices can be any suitable ground removal device, such as a rotary cutting head, a hydraulic jet, a shovel, a backhoe, a ripper or any combination of these devices. In the case of a rotary cutting head, an array of drag bits, an array of picks, an array of disc cutters and the like or any combination of cutting tools arrayed on the cutting head may be used. In another configuration, a tunneling machine can also be fully enclosed (a closed face machine) and capable of applying a pressurized slurry at the cutting face to provide, for example, stability to the excavation face. These machines are often referred to as slurry or slime machines or as earth pressure balance machines or as earth pressure balance systems.
In one configuration, the tunneling machine includes two or more shields of different sizes may be used to provide ground support. In one configuration, a large shield (in cross-sectional area) may be located at the front of, over, and/or behind the machine to support the ground over the excavation and backfill operations. A small shield (in circumference) may be located behind the large shield and used to support the ground above the trailing access tunnel until the access tunnel becomes self-supporting or assembled.
In one configuration, the machine includes two or more (typically overlapping) tail shields or tail shrouds, each providing ground support. For example, a backfill tail shield, having substantially the same circumference as the main excavation surface (in the same plane), can extend behind the primary excavation shield to protect the backfill injection apparatus and the backfill volume from loose and falling ground from the unexcavated material. A typically substantially smaller tail shield (in circumference determined in the same plane) can extend behind the primary excavation shield and/or machine bulkhead to provide protect liner fabrication personnel and machinery from loose or falling ground or from previously backfilled material, until the liner has achieved sufficient strength to provide such protection. A binocular tunneling machine may have two large backfill shields and one or more smaller (in cross-section) access tunnel tail shields.
In one configuration, the body member has a plurality of interconnected segments that movably engage one another. In one design, the adjacent segments are interconnected by a plurality of hydraulic jacks or cylinders. The hydraulic cylinders on the trailing section can push against the liner or backfill material to advance the trailing section, thereby more effectively engaging adjacent liner sections and/or compacting the backfill material. In one design, the adjacent segments telescopically engage one another. The machine can have any number of segments including only one, though two or more segments are preferred. The segmentation allows the machine to change direction efficiently and allows the machine to follow the meandering oil sands deposits. In one embodiment, the segmentation also permits the machine to advance, one segment at a time, by the moving segment thrusting against the combined static friction of the stationary segments.
In one configuration, the segmented machine is propelled forward by a combination of soft-ground grippers and thrusting off the backfill material. The grippers can be of any suitable design, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art. Soft-ground grippers are typically hydraulically actuated pads that can be thrust out against the sides of the excavation. The pads may be large so as to contact a large area of a soft-ground ore body. Each section or segment of the tunneling machine can further include one or more such grippers for displacing and maneuvering the machine and providing thrust for the mining device(s) at the forward end of the machine. The rear segment of the machine can thrust off the backfill since the cross-sectional area or outer periphery of backfill is approximately the same as the cross-sectional area or outer periphery of the excavation. This form of propulsion also has the advantage of helping to compact and consolidate the backfill.
In segmented designs, the segmented tunneling machine typically advances in an inch worm fashion through the material to be excavated leaving behind a tunnel of suitable shape. For a tunneling machine having at least three segments, the typical steps for advancing the machine are, for example, as follows:
(a) advancing a first section of the tunneling machine forward, wherein the first section is advanced by pushing against an adjacent second section of the tunneling machine;
(b) when the first section is advanced relative to the second section a selected distance, pulling, with the first section, the second section forward and/or pushing, with at least one trailing section, adjacent to the second section, the second section forward; and
(c) when the second section is advanced relative to a trailing section the selected distance, pulling with the first and second sections and/or pushing off the backfill material behind the tunneling machine to move at least one trailing section forward.
As will be appreciated, machines have one or two segments can advance using fewer steps than those set forth above.
In one configuration, the TBM includes a global positioning system and/or fibre optic surveying line to continuously determine the position of the machine.
In one configuration, the TBM includes one or more sensing devices for detecting the presence of hydrocarbons or other valuable components or barren ground or shale and calcite lenses and the like or another characteristic in the in-situ material to be excavated, and/or the presence or hydrocarbons or other valuable components material that has been excavated. The sensing devices can use sonar and/or ground-penetrating radar or other short range underground detection technologies to sense the features ahead of the mining machine.
In one configuration, the TBM machine has features permitting the TBM to change direction or steer. Such machines can steer by any number of means or combination of means. For example, a segmented machine can steer by extending and retracting its connecting hydraulic propulsion cylinders by different lengths of extension or retraction around the circumference of the machine. A TBM machine may change direction by differentially extending, retracting and reorienting the cutter tools on its rotary cutting head to assist in steering. The TBM may also steer by articulating its cutting head. The TBM may also deploy large flaps or grippers to create increased drag on the side of the machine so as to cause the machine to steer in that direction. Such maneuverability permits the TBM to mine patterns such as described herein as well as mine around barren ground or around obstacles. As will be appreciated, the above methods of steering may be varied to suit the local conditions and can be combined or used in other configurations or embodiments that may be different from those set forth above.
In one configuration, the tunneling machine has an excavation head configured to form an approximately rectangular excavation cross-section which may be more suited to some ore bodies. A rectangular excavation can be formed by rotary cutting head assemblies in a number of ways which include assembling an array of circular cutter heads, tilting a circular head and using one or more triangular heads that rotate eccentrically by the use of offset planetary gear drives for example. The preferred embodiment for excavating a rectangular opening would incorporate two or more conventional tunnel boring machine heads in a binocular or even trinocular TBM configuration. Such machines have been built and used in various civil tunneling applications.
In one configuration, the tunneling machine is configured to excavate the in situ material by slurry techniques so that the mined material is immediately formed into a format that is compatible with slurry pipeline or hydrotransport methods. In this configuration, the mined material is typically not handled as a solid and thus tends to be less abrasive and cause less wear on any of the materials handling apparatuses.
In one configuration, the tunneling machine includes a hydrocarbon extraction unit, such as a bitumen separation apparatus. The apparatus extracts the hydrocarbons and the extracted hydrocarbons are transported to a surface facility for further processing. In this manner, less material can be transported to the surface, thereby decreasing haulage costs. The waste material, which is still in the excavation area can be used for backfilling as noted previously.
In one configuration, the tunneling machine includes a heat exchange system for absorbing heat from any heat sources in the tunneling machine, such as the propulsion motors and hydraulic cylinders used to move the machine segments, and transferring the absorbed heat to the material in a slurry formed at or near the cutting head, the bitumen processing chamber, personnel compartment, lining material formation units, and/or the hydrotransport system. The heat exchanger can be of any design, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art.
In one configuration, the tunneling machine includes a pressurized chamber having a pressure greater than the formation pressure of the unexcavated material to inhibit formation gases such as methane from entering personnel areas. The method can require only a small fraction, typically less than 5% to 10%, of the output crude oil energy, to power the excavation and bitumen recovery process.
In one configuration, the mining machine further includes device(s) for forming tunnel lining sections. Such devices can be forms, lifting devices such as cranes to manipulate the forms or prefabricated liners, injecting assembly for injecting or spraying the backfill material around the liner, asphalt formation machine(s) for forming a lining material, concrete mixing machine(s), machines for extruding cast-in-place liners and the like.
In a further embodiment, a system is provided for collecting formation gases from or injecting waste gases into a formation. The system includes the following:
a rock bolt assembly, the rock bolt assembly including an internal passageway connected to one or more outlet ports that communicate with an underground formation;
a gas handling system for transporting gases from or to the rock bolt assembly; and
a valve assembly engaging the head of the rock bolt assembly and being in communication with the gas handling system, whereby gases are withdrawn from or injected into the underground formation. When the tunneling machine excavates hydrocarbon deposits, it can encounter gas either in the form of free gas contained in structural pockets or in the form of a bound gas dissolved in the formation water and hydrocarbon material. When the excavated volume is exposed to significantly lower pressure such as atmospheric pressure, the dissolved gas will come out of solution and flow towards the excavation. The flow rate will be limited by the local permeability. The rock bolt assembly can be inserted through a tunnel liner and used as conduits for draining formation gas to reduce the pressure on the tunnel liner.
In yet another embodiment, a method for disposing of gases in abandoned excavations is provided. The gases are transported into an underground excavation, such as using the gas handling system described above, and injected into an underground formation accessible through the underground excavation. An extension of the present invention is to use the network of trailing access tunnels as repositories for greenhouse and other noxious gases after they have been abandoned as part of the mining process. In this embodiment, the tunnel liner(s) is/are perforated and the tunnel entrances (both entrance and exit portals) as well as any connections between active tunnels are closed off. The tunnel liners can be perforated in any number of ways. For example, shaped charges can be affixed to the tunnel walls and initiated remotely to perforate the walls. Alternatively, the injecting can be done with a number of properly dispersed rock bolt assemblies. Then, the desired gases can be pumped into the access tunnels under sufficient pressure such at the gases would be slowly injected into the surrounding formation via the tunnel liner perforations.
The foregoing summary is neither complete nor exhaustive. As will be appreciated, the above features can be combined or used in other configurations or embodiments that may be different from those set forth above. For example, one or more of the features can be used in mining processes that do not use the backfill feature. Such other configurations and embodiments are considered to be part of the present invention.